Under the Red Dragon

Bang, bang, bang.

"Open the door, open the door, the people inside open the door immediately, or I will kick the door open!"

The rough voice of a man accompanied by violent knocking on the door rang out, Nora and her grandmother trembled and hugged each other, hiding in the small room, staring wide-eyed, not daring to say a word, even their breathing was subconsciously held back, for fear that the weak breathing would be heard by the people outside.

Nora is a free person without status, or rather, a vagrant, ever since she was born, she has lived in this wilderness far away from prosperous towns.

Gathered in this dangerous wilderness are some serfs, hunters, and civilians who have fled or avoided from other places, but after coming to the wilderness, they have become free people with freedom.

However, although the wilderness has the freedom that is difficult for most ordinary people to have, it needs to face the dangers that most people do not need to face.

Because there are many visible dangers in this wilderness, wandering gnolls and goblin groups, half-orcs and kobolds who like to be bandits, and sometimes even ogres break into the village walls and wreak havoc.

What's more, there are many dangerous beasts in the wild. Many neighbors may still be talking and laughing with Nora today, and tomorrow they will be lying in a corner of the wilderness, accompanied by death.

Nora's parents also left Nora in this way, leaving Nora and her elderly grandmother to depend on each other ever since.

Although Nora heard from the old people in the village that the place where they lived belonged to the territory of a red copper dragon, Nora had never seen this supposedly powerful dragon. The small village would always encounter some accidents and dangers from time to time, and she never saw the red copper dragon lord come out to help.

Maybe it's because the territory is too large, and this dragon can't manage it. Nora sometimes has this idea when she expects the dragon to save the village.

Fortunately, because they live in this kind of environment, the people in the village are relatively united. Even if their lives are not good, they are willing to lend a helping hand occasionally to help the young Nora and her elderly grandmother, so Nora and her grandmother were able to survive.

However, even with such a difficult life, these spontaneously gathered free people would rather risk various dangers to open up land in the wilderness and then settle down, than return to that painful, confined, and hopeless past life.

Nora thought that this dangerous and peaceful life would continue forever, until she grew up, her grandmother accompanied her parents away, and she would have a new family in this place.

Until today, the tranquility of the village was broken again, but it was not those monsters and beasts, nor the dragon, but a group of humans like robbers.

This group of humans is more ferocious and brutal than those half-orc and kobold bandits. Sometimes, even if those half-orc and kobold bandits break through the village's defenses, they only take away the village's food and livestock, and occasionally plunder some women.

But these human bandits not only take away the food and livestock, but also pull out the villagers hiding in the houses and take them away together. In Nora's eyes, the village chief, who is the most powerful in the village, was also overwhelmed and defeated by those human bandits when he went up to ask questions.

However, the only advantage of these human bandits is that they will not kill these villagers. Every defeated villager is caught by these bandits, and their hands are tied and their feet are locked, like slaves to be sold.

Nora was small, and when she saw this scene, she ran back to her home and locked the door with her grandmother, hoping to escape this disaster.

But the people outside were already impatient. They directly kicked the already dilapidated door open and walked in.

This is a tall middle-aged man. His dark and cracked skin and greasy hair make him look extremely downcast, but he is wearing a set of excellent leather armor, and the weapon in his hand is also a top-quality product. Even if Nora doesn't understand it, she can see it.

In Nora's eyes, these robbers look more like those mercenaries in the village chief's uncle's mouth.

The middle-aged man bent down and looked under the table, a look of disappointment appeared in his eyes, and he muttered, "How come it's a girl and an old woman, not very valuable, I knew I would have chosen another family."

"Uncle, we don't have any money. The most valuable thing is this house," Nora said timidly, desperately blocking her old and dizzy grandmother, but she plucked up the courage to say, "I can give you this house, or I can go with you, please don't hurt my grandmother!"

"Hehe, this broken house is worth a few coins. The most valuable thing is you. Come out and go with me. Although your grandmother is very old, she can still be sold for some money. Don't force me to do it. Get out obediently." The middle-aged man didn't care about Nora's request, and threatened with a scimitar carved with exquisite patterns in his hand.

"Let's go, Nora, don't disobey this adult's order. I will go with you, maybe I can take care of you for the last journey," the elderly grandmother's dim eyes overflowed with tears, and her skinny hands stroked her young granddaughter's face.

"Okay," Nora bit her lip and nodded, helping her grandmother crawl out from under the table, and followed the middle-aged man out of this dilapidated house that belonged to the warmest and safest world for her.

"My lord, my lord, I am just a wandering bard borrowing a place to stay, not a person from this village,"

Nora followed the voice and saw a young man who was wearing ordinary clothes but looked fancy being dragged out of a house not far away by another robber. However, the young man did not dare to resist, but desperately explained.

Nora knew this young man. He was a tourist who came to the village chief's uncle's house to stay some time ago. It is said that he came to collect material. The young man knew many stories and would walk around the village to talk every day. He would also tell stories to the children in the village from time to time. Nora liked him very much.

"Bard, bards are also worth money," another robber ignored the bard's explanation and tied his hands.

Nora watched as many villagers and her little friends were tied up and taken to the center of the village under the threat of these robbers. Perhaps because Nora and her grandmother had no ability to escape or threaten, these robbers did not tie up Nora and her grandmother.

Nora saw the most powerful person in her heart in the center of the village, Uncle Village Chief, but Uncle Village Chief was called Fane Knight by those robbers.

"I didn't expect you to be hiding here,Fane. It is said that you disobeyed the Pope's order back then and were charged withblasphemy. The dignified head of the Church Knights was reduced to a savage in the wilderness. What a pity."

The bandit leader teased the village chief while riding on a tall red-blooded horse.

Village chief Fane's(法恩: Fane) expression remained unchanged, but he asked in return: "Your mercenary group can be considered a well-known one inNorthland. How come you are now doing this kind of dirty work."

The bandit leader laughed: "There's no way, those dragons in the Golden Land seem to be very ambitious and need a lot of population to enrich their territory. I didn't like doing this kind of dirty work, but those dragons gave too much."

Village chief Fane's(法恩: Fane) calm expression changed, and he said in a deep voice: "You actually trade with those evil dragons? Aren't you afraid that those dragons will go back on their word? And once those noble lords know that you are colluding with the evil dragons, even if you are the most powerful mercenary group inNorthland, you will be wiped out."

"Haha,Fane, no wonder you were expelled and hunted down by the church. You are too naive," the bandit leader couldn't stop laughing, "Those evil dragons are kinder than gold dragons as long as they give me lovely gold coins. Even gold dragons are evil creatures if they don't give me gold coins."

"And do you think only our mercenary group is doing this kind of thing? Those nobles are doing even worse than us. Your village is just lucky for me to find you before they do," the bandit leader sneered,

"Although those five-colored dragons are still arrogant and conceited, they are surprisingly trustworthy. Everyone who goes to the Golden Land will realize this. Besides, how can there be no risk in doing business? As long as I succeed, I can make a lot of money, and this risk is nothing to me."

These people gathered and talked in the village, but they did not notice that in the far reaches of the wilderness, on the towering peaks, there were two dragons overlooking the entire wilderness, and everything that happened in this village was taken into the eyes of the two dragons.

One of the male dragons was about sixteen meters long, and the dense and solid scales on its body emitted a soft and warm reddish-brown luster. A pair of thick drumstick-like horns grew on its head, and leathery tissue similar to flippers grew on the horns and cheeks.

This is a red copper dragon, and also the dragon lord here,Alfred.

And a pair of wide wings are like a pair of huge bony sails, growing and connecting from the wing tips of the dragon to the tail of the body.

The smooth scales on the other female dragon are deep and rich bronze color. The dragon claws grow connected flippers, and the pupils are like glowing green balls. The body is about fifteen meters, only a little smaller than the male dragon.

The rest of the body structure is not much different from the male dragon's body. The head, neck, and tail all grow bat wings, only the wings, more like triangular sail wings without bones.

This is a young female bronze dragon, and is the pursuit object of the red copper dragonAlfred,Alina!

At this time, the young female bronze dragonAlina was frowning, staring at the innocent-looking red copper dragonAlfred, and said with a bit of anger in her voice: "Alfred, this is the promising territory you mentioned."

"You even sold these humans who can barely be used for leadership to those bandits. What do you want me to govern? Rule those ignorant beasts and those despicable monster bandits? I am not those stupid five-colored dragons who are so hungry and thirsty that they don't choose dependents and accept any monsters!"

The young bronze dragonAlina was furious, and her slender fangs moved sharply, seeming to want to give the red copper dragon in front of her who was pretending to be innocent a hard bite.

The female bronze dragonAlina has different hobbies from other members of her race. The bronze dragon race is very curious, especially fascinated by war. They often turn into small friendly animals or humans to observe adventurers and humans who enter their territory.

And in order to get close to the war, they use transformation to become humans and join the army as war observers. Their race meets and talks about the art of war enthusiastically, just like the British Empire likes to talk about the weather when they meet.

ButAlina prefers to talk about the art of ruling territories and governing countries. For this reason, she once turned into a human and entered the libraries of major human kingdoms to read materials and books. She also asked her parents to hire a human teacher to ask the teacher about the knowledge of governing territories.

When the female bronze dragon crossed the juvenile stage and became a young dragon,Alina, who was independent from her family, did not choose to find a territory to conquer in the sea like her parents. In her opinion, no matter how vast the territory in the sea is, it is not the country she dreams of.

Those stupid fish people and arrogant evil nagas also made her feel disgusted, so she chose to come to land and find lords who needed territorial officials to apply for a job, wanting to prove her ability, but most of them ended in failure.

These lords did not believe that a woman could govern the territory well and bring much help to themselves.Alina, who concealed the identity of the dragon, was born as an educated young woman from an ordinary family and was not trusted at all.

In fact, even ifAlina revealed the identity of the bronze dragon, these lords would not accept her. Although the bronze dragon is also a member of the good dragon, it is not as popular as the gold dragon.

During Alina's(阿丽娜: Alina) travels to try everywhere, she met the young dragon lord red copper dragonAlfred at a gathering of metal dragons.

Although the red copper dragonAlfred did not understand the bronze dragon Alina's(阿丽娜: Alina) thoughts, and could not understand Alina's(阿丽娜: Alina) so-called art and wisdom of governing the territory,Alfred, who coveted the beauty of the bronze dragonAlina, quickly expressed his love and pursuit to the female dragon.

And he promised to hand over his territory to the bronze dragonAlina to rule and take care of, which moved the bronze dragon and let the bronze dragon followAlfred to Alfred's(阿尔弗雷德: Alfred) territory.

Who knew that the red copper dragonAlfred had already been bought by the gold coins of these humans and no longer cared about the residents living in the territory, allowing these residents to be looted and sold, and he could not regret it.

Of course, the most important thing is that these humans signed a contract with the red copper dragonAlfred, and the other half of the gold coins will be sent after the transaction is completed.

So when the bronze dragonAlina saw this scene, she was so angry.Alina chose to apply for a job under the lord of the human kingdom because she looked down on those monsters who only knew how to plunder and wander without producing anything.

Now the humans in Alfred's(阿尔弗雷德: Alfred) territory are also losing, which makes her very angry and gives her a feeling of being scammed.

"How about this, you give me half of the gold coins you received from those humans, and I will forgive your deception and seriously reconsider the possibility of being your partner," the bronze dragonAlina took a deep breath. After her goal was not achieved, this young mother dragon wanted to make a fortune first.

The red copper dragonAlfred, who had an innocent look on his face, immediately changed his face. Treasure is an untouchable area for dragons.

EvenAlfred, who seemed a little boiling dragon before, would not give up his treasure. Even if the platinum dragon god Bahamut(铂金龙神巴哈姆特: Platinum Dragon God Bahamut) stood in front of the red copper dragon and made such an impolite request,Alfred would think about the possibility of whether to give the platinum dragon god Bahamut(铂金龙神巴哈姆特: Platinum Dragon God Bahamut) a big mouth.

But ultimately, he still coveted the beauty of the mother dragon before him. Alfred, the copper dragon, tried to persuade her, and he exclaimed, "Alina, I can even give you the management of the territory that is most important to a dragon lord. Doesn't that prove my sincerity?"

"Moreover, you can earn treasures through my territory. After you become my partner, you will have a share of all the treasures in the territory!"

"Tch," the female bronze dragon Alina sneered, "Your territory is so desolate that even birds don't like to stay? Forget it, Alfred, save those words to coax the next mother dragon!"

The bronze dragon Alina spread her wings, preparing to leave.

The copper dragon Alfred's eyes darted around, and a flash of amazing wisdom gave him a glimmer of inspiration. He shouted, "Wait, Alina, isn't what you want is to govern a territory with humans? I have a way."

"What way do you have? You're not trying to fool me again, are you?" The bronze dragon stopped, looking suspiciously at the confident male dragon.

"I warn you, my parents are the great lords of the Phosphorescent Sea. If you dare to deceive me, be careful of getting a good beating," the young female dragon warned, baring her fangs.

The copper dragon Alfred's eyes changed from vertical pupils to round pupils, darting around. Then, he patted his sturdy chest muscles with his thick dragon claws and exclaimed, "Do you know the Gogmora dragon group that rules the Golden Land? The leader of this dragon group, Caron, is my good friend."

"I learned from the adventurers I caught from the seaside that the Golden Land is gradually prospering under the rule of the dragon group. There are not only many humans, but also many other races becoming the dragon's subjects. It is just right for Alina to display her talents and prove her wisdom and art of governing the territory."

Although the copper dragon Alfred had only met the red dragon once and talked a few words, their relationship was far from familiar. But now, with the arrow on the string, he couldn't lose his momentum in front of the beautiful dragon for the sake of his proud dragon face, so he confidently assured the mother dragon he liked.

"The territory ruled by Caron and the dragon group far exceeds my territory, but they lack talents to manage the territory. You also know that the familiars that the five-colored dragons can accept are all useless misfits."

"With Alina's ability and my relationship with Caron, you will definitely be treated with courtesy when you go there. Maybe Caron will let you manage a large area of territory because of your knowledge! Moreover, the dragon group is recruiting talents to manage their territory. Can't Alina's knowledge surpass those mediocre races?"

The copper dragon used the most peak eloquence of his life to persuade this female bronze dragon, using seduction and aggressive tactics without being taught. Alfred planned to entangle this mother dragon no matter what.

This is also the secret of courtship taught to him by the other copper dragon elders. Even the most proud and fierce female dragon is afraid of the male dragon who is constantly entangled.

"Caron Gogmora, and the dragon group he rules, I know. I heard that under the leadership of this red dragon, the dragon group burned the imperial capital of the Cathay Empire to white ground, the magnificent palace was forever sunk into the underground magma by the dragon group, and countless elite imperial soldiers were slaughtered,"

The bronze dragon Alina had also heard about this from her elders. Although dragons are quite proud and conceited, and like to stay in their nests and be self-contained.

But among the metal dragons, except for the copper dragon and bronze dragon, which are slightly strange dragon species, the other three metal dragons, gold, silver, and bronze dragons, pay more attention to the movements of human civilization.

Especially these three dragons are keen on using transformation techniques to mix into humans. In some human countries in the Southern Continent, there are examples of gold and silver dragons serving as human kingdom's earls and dukes.

"Are you asking me to surrender to those evil dragons and work for those stupid, conceited, and chaotic five-colored dragons? You, copper dragon Alfred, are a kind metal dragon, how can you be friends with those evil dragons?"

The female bronze dragon Alina, like all bronze dragons, is kind by nature. Some kind bronze dragons even reach the level of some silver dragon saints.

They don't even hurt intelligent animals, except for the sahuagin race that these bronze dragons like to eat. However, these bronze dragons therefore do not recognize sahuagin as an intelligent race, so it does not violate the kind nature of the bronze dragons.

Alina therefore has no good feelings towards the five-colored dragons, especially the Gogmora dragon group that launched a massacre in the imperial capital of the Cathay Empire.

If it weren't for knowing that she couldn't beat the dragon group, and the other metal dragons she knew were too lazy to move, she would have gathered a group of metal dragons to cause trouble for Caron and his group.

"Tch," the copper dragon Alfred clearly had his own subjective judgment. He even sneered at his goddess dragon: "Alina, don't let your stereotypes blind your clever mind. If you were caught by those humans, your parents would definitely not hesitate to destroy the entire Cathay Empire to wash away the shame,"

"Moreover, Caron and his dragon group are not as stupid, conceited, chaotic, and evil as the other five-colored dragons. Some truths and conclusions can be drawn from those human adventurers. If you don't believe it, you can use your own eyes to see and your own ears to hear. I don't want the mother dragon I like to be a self-righteous idiot!"

The copper dragon Alfred raised his head proudly, as if despising the short-sightedness of the mother dragon in front of him. This is also the secret taught to Alfred by the copper dragon elders. You can't always obey the female dragon, and occasionally you need to打击 the female dragon's overly proud heart and conceited personality.

Of course, this must be done when facing those truly clever female dragons. Some brainless and conceited female dragons will become even more angry because of these打击 words, and will not reflect on their own problems like clever female dragons.

Sure enough, a hesitant look appeared on the face of the female bronze dragon Alina. She was also curious about the dragon group ruling the distant Golden Land because of the words of the copper dragon Alfred. She was curious whether what the copper dragon said was true, and also curious about what kind of charm the other party had that could make a metal dragon speak for the five-colored dragons.

As for the matter of these robbers looting humans and selling them to the dragon group's territory, these small things are considered basic operations in the eyes of dragons, and have nothing to do with evil. Those metal dragons also buy a lot of slaves from the human kingdoms when they build their own territories, especially the gold dragons buy the most.

"Okay, I admit that I have been somewhat persuaded by your words, Alfred," the female bronze dragon Alina also raised her head high. She also didn't like being considered a self-righteous and short-sighted dragon. "I plan to go to the distant Golden Land to see if the situation you said is true,"

The bronze dragon Alina glanced at the copper dragon's revealing happy eyes, and her vertical pupils revealed agility and cunning. She said in a clear voice, "I wonder if I have the honor to invite this copper dragon Mr. who has a good relationship with the Gogmora dragon group to accompany me?"

After speaking, without waiting for the copper dragon Alfred to react, this young but clever enough female dragon flapped her wings and flew away into the distance.

The copper dragon Alfred was overwhelmed by the words of the mother dragon, and for a moment forgot the secret taught to him by the copper dragon elders - always maintain his own relatively high posture, so that the female dragon can admire and obey for a long time.

He quickly spread his wings and followed the female dragon in front, shouting: "You flew in the wrong direction, Alina, you should go that way, and I told you, when I met Caron and the dragon group at that time, that red dragon praised me for my graceful and powerful figure, my relationship with him is extraordinary..."

...

"Recruiting pioneer immigrants, every immigrant who signs up to go to the Golden Land will be granted the status of a freeman, with free food, drink, and accommodation, and free travel expenses,"

"Immigrants who go to the Golden Land can freely develop land, and the developed land belongs to them. People who go to the Golden Land will also receive a settlement allowance and be properly settled."

"People with skills will also receive some copper coins as a reward, and those who immigrate with their families will also receive copper coins as a reward. The conditions are generous, don't miss it!"

The soldiers on the street were holding notices in their hands, constantly advertising loudly while patrolling the streets of the slums, recruiting so-called "pioneer immigrants."

In the past, only naked, numb-faced paupers and ragged, smelly beggars haunted the slums, but now it has become extraordinarily lively. Not only are there patrol guards who are rarely seen in a century, but also many elite mercenary groups and stewards of merchant groups are scurrying back and forth in the slums with their subordinates in groups.

Under the lure of food, the people in these slums began to show some interest in their propaganda. The crowd began to move, and some expectant expressions appeared on the numb faces of the people.

And in other parts of the city, teams of prisoners were escorted by soldiers to the docks outside the city and sent on big ships. These soldiers were also particularly careful to patrol the streets they passed, to see if there were any sneaky or fraudulent things happening. These soldiers were looking forward to catching those who disrupted the order, and every head meant shiny copper coins.

Now the public security in all the cities in this territory is unprecedentedly good. The petty thieves on the streets in the past have disappeared, because everyone who is caught disappears from the city. Even the black gangs hiding in the sewers and corners of the city have been wiped out.

This made the residents in the towns applaud. The security problems that were difficult to eradicate in the past have disappeared under the strict crackdown of the lord, making the people living in the territory begin to praise the lord.

However, these changes cannot affect the majestic castle that sits high above, built on a mountain, and located on a high slope.

This family castle belonging to Duke Istvan is like the residence of a noble spirit overlooking the mortal world. The tall and thick city walls block the praises and slanders of the mortal world. It rules the mortals, but is isolated from the world of ordinary people.

Even in the daytime, countless candles and brocade lamps need to be lit in the tall castle to keep the castle bright. The candles and lamp oil consumed by the castle every day are enough for an ordinary family of three to use for a year.

Dense knitted wide carpets cover every hall and aisle of the castle, and each carpet woven with exquisite patterns is enough to spend the savings of an ordinary family for ten years.

The intricate and gorgeous murals above the high dome of the castle, the exquisite screens placed in the castle, the furniture made of precious wood, and the silverware used for dining on the dining table, all of these things are precious things that those mortals outside the castle cannot imagine owning.

And in a certain banquet hall of this castle, only three people were sitting on a wide dining table made of precious wood.

One of the old men was sitting in the main seat with his back to countless oil paintings by famous artists. His hair was white at the temples, but his eyes were piercing. He was the patriarch of the Istvan family and the ruler of this territory, Duke Istvan.

After the Cathay Empire split, the free territories originally belonging to the Cathay Emperor were divided and annexed by various families. Duke Istvan, as a high-ranking nobleman of the Cathay Empire, was also allocated a wealthy territory. Now the power of the Istvan family is even stronger, and its strength is among the first-class ranks among the many kingdoms and duchies in the North.

Another young woman sitting on Duke Istvan's right hand has a beautiful face with eyes like two pools of green water, but her eyes reveal the aggressiveness of a lion. Her bulging breasts are tightly bound in close-fitting soft armor. Obviously, she is a very ambitious woman.

This is Countess Bathory, the eldest daughter of Duke Istvan. She is a controversial countess. She has admired bravery since she was a child, and she is stronger than the men of her clan. Her strength is also more outstanding than the men of her clan. At a young age, she has crossed the realm of high-level transcendence and touched the edge of the Holy Rank.

Earl Kyle, who had a good relationship with the Istvan family, had admired Bathory's character and beauty since he was a child. After becoming the earl in charge of the family, he chose to propose to the eldest daughter of Duke Istvan.

Based on the idea of a strong alliance, Duke Istvan agreed to Earl Kyle's request, and the two families officially combined and married.

But on the second day after marrying Earl Kyle, who had a good relationship with the Istvan family, Bathory persuaded Earl Kyle to go hunting with her in the mountains. As a result, an accident occurred during the hunting process.

Bathory and Earl Kyle's party were lost in the barren mountains and ridges. When other soldiers found the whereabouts of this party, everyone except Bathory was already dead.

The soldiers found all the claw marks of wild animals behind Earl Kyle and his entourage. Only Bathory relied on the soft armor on her body to avoid the wild animals' attack from behind.

Although these soldiers were also wondering how a beast could quietly approach the earl's party and successfully sneak attack in front of a high-level transcendent warrior. You must know that the earl and his entourage were also powerful warriors with keen intuition.

Although these soldiers did not dare to express their doubts on the surface, rumors also spread as a result.

Especially after Earl Kyle's younger brother, the only remaining heir of the earl's family, also died of a sudden serious illness shortly afterwards, rumors spread in the territory of Earl Kyle's family. Some loyal warrior legions even publicly accused Bathory of killing the two earls before and after, and wanting to replace them.

But after the leaders of these warriors who accused Bathory died bizarrely one after another, the rumors within the territory gradually came under control. Even if there were still some secret "slanders", they were limited to dark corners.

Since then, Bathory inherited Earl Kyle's title and became a rare female earl.

And sitting opposite this controversial female earl was a squinting mage wearing a gorgeous robe, Huesle, or perhaps he should be called Huesle Istvan.

After all, being able to cultivate a high-level mage is beyond the means of ordinary nobles. Without money, wanting to learn magic is like hoping a dragon will gift you its treasure.

Three nobles were elegantly enjoying their dinner. Even though the servants had been dismissed, thanks to habits ingrained in nobility, the three did not speak during the meal, maintaining a silent yet relaxed atmosphere.

After a long while, having spat out the last of his mouthwash, the white-haired, grizzled old Duke finally spoke, as if having pondered for a long time, still carefully choosing his words, "Hughes, has your teacher, Grand Mage Rappus, made his final decision?"

Although Hughes was accustomed to the free and unrestrained demeanor of a high-level mage, he still maintained a respectful and courteous attitude before his old father, acknowledging the authority of the family patriarch.

Hughes nodded slightly, showing respect for his father's question, before beginning to answer, "Teacher has not made a final decision, but he has indicated that we should gradually shift the focus of our mages towards the dragon clans. As someone who can observe some of the scales of fate, there must be a reason for what Teacher does!"

"Hmm," Duke Istvan nodded slightly, pondered for a moment, and then said, "Even so, our family's resources cannot be tilted too much towards those dragons."

"The reason why nobles can endure for so long, even outliving empires and dynasties, is because we never put all our fragile eggs in one basket. We learn from those cunning rabbits, digging holes everywhere, to ensure the family's retreat and stability."

Mage Hughes squinted and nodded, expressing his agreement with the Duke's words, but then said, "Forgive my bluntness, Father, but delivering charcoal for warmth in the snow is far more impressive than offering flowers after success. What the dragons currently lack is not a significant resource in our family's eyes."

The Duke shook his head, "Managing a large family means that you can't always do as you please. Even as the family head and the lord of the territory, there are many interests to reconcile, and the newly acquired territories also need to be maintained and developed. The resources and support currently given to you are already the maximum I can mobilize within my power."

"Alright, Father, if that's the case, then I will go to the Golden Land, the dragons' territory, as a mage, not as a representative member of the Istvan family."

"Also, forgive my boldness, esteemed Father and Duke, but I think it's time to let my younger brother participate in family affairs. Perhaps young people can bring some fresh ideas and vitality to this aging family."

Mage Hughes maintained a respectful attitude, but his words clearly expressed his dissatisfaction.

"Hmph, I am not yet senile, I possess sufficient wisdom and vitality, and I am still capable of managing and leading the family," Duke Istvan was angered by the mage's audacious words, threw down the silk handkerchief he was using to wipe his mouth, stood up, and stormed off in a fit of anger.

The Countess Bathory, who had been quietly watching the exchange between the two fathers and sons, slowly sipped her sweet cream of mushroom soup. After seeing the old Duke leave in anger, she leisurely picked up a silk handkerchief and wiped her sensual and supple lips.

"These old fellows are always easily trapped by their own stubbornness and experiences, always believing that their experience is the most reliable, and dare not try new ideas and paths. The boldness and courage of their youth have long been worn away by time. Hughes, don't pay too much attention to that old fellow's thoughts."

The young and beautiful, voluptuous Countess Bathory smiled and extended goodwill to her younger brother.

"Shh, keep it down, Father's strength hasn't diminished too much," Mage Hughes raised his index finger to his lips, and a smile appeared on his otherwise indifferent face.

"However, you have been in contact with those dragons. Are those dragons really as you say, worth our investment?" The young Countess's eyes, like pools of emerald water, shone brightly, like a lioness on the grasslands staring at its prey before the hunt. An aggressive aura emanated from Countess Bathory's gaze.

Even Hughes, who had grown up with her since childhood, felt the pressure from his elder sister. The mage's eyes involuntarily shifted slightly, and then he nodded, "Success in life is mostly temporary, while failure occupies the main theme, but how one faces failure can distinguish everyone into different types."

"Some people are crushed by failure and wallow in it, while others can constantly get up and move forward. This is a trait that, apart from facing death, is bound to achieve success. In my opinion, Calon, that red dragon with terrifying power, belongs to the kind of creature that possesses this trait."

Countess Bathory's bright and aggressive gaze quietly subsided, and then she nodded, "I believe in your vision, Hughes. You have been the smartest child in the family since childhood. Perhaps I can personally take a trip to the Golden Land and get in touch with those dragons."

Mage Hughes was shocked. He knew his sister's personality, "Bathory, don't tell me you want to..."

The young Countess interrupted the mage's words. She stood up, leaving behind a hearty but crisp laugh, "Hughes, ruling a small, narrow earldom has already bored me. I want to challenge a bigger stage, my life is too peaceful."

Mage Hughes sighed and shook his head, "Bathory, you believe in my mind, but I'm a little afraid of your madness and courage!"

Completion Check: The entire original text has been translated.

Length Comparison: The translated text closely matches the length and detail of the original Chinese text.

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